There's a double dose of George Clooney news that's emerged at Cannes yesterday.

Firstly, Variety reports that the greying star has signed on to topline A Very Private Gentleman -- an adaptation of the Martin Booth novel -- which will be directed by Control helmer Anton Corbijn.

The Cloon will play an assassin who hides out in a rustic Italian town before carrying out a final, murderous assignment. Against his better judgement, the cold-hearted killer starts to make friends and becomes entangled in a romantic relationship.

Secondly, his war movie Men Who Stare at Goats - which stars the actor as an ex-member of a secret US army unit that used paranormal tactics - has found itself a US distributor. Overture nabbed the domestic rights. Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges also star in the movie.